Which to use
“weiches” is an adjective and “welchen” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,477
- “weiches” frequency rank
- #1,277
- “welchen” frequency rank
- 29754
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weiches | welchen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs weich | Akkusativ Singular des Pronomens welcher |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set weiches and welchen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weiches is [ˈvaɪ̯çəs] while welchen is [ˈvɛlçn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weiches is recorded at frequency rank #28,477, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯çəs]. welchen is at rank #1,277, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈvɛlçn̩].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 29754, this pair ranks #1,760,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of weiches vs welchen
Shared letters: cehw. Private to "weiches": is. Private to "welchen": ln.
"weiches" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "welchen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "weiches" and "welchen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "weiches" or "welchen"?
Remembering weiches vs welchen
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “weiches”; for an unknown, it's “welchen”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “weiches” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable